The actress was an accomplished stage actress for years before hitting TV screens, appearing in Broadway productions of Bells Are Ringing, Damn Yankees, Rhinoceros, and Funny Girl, opposite Barbra Streisand.

"The theater is where Jean Stapleton started ... [and] the Broadway community claims her as one of our family," Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, said in a statement. "The range of her talent was also evident in that she could triumph in both musical comedies and serious dramas. She will be missed."